Abstract
This chapter explores the dynamic realms of leadership and executive coaching and finds the intersection of the two. It begins by contrasting the traditions of athletic coaching with executive coaching, through the lens of individualism versus collectivism. It identifies the connections between leadership and coaching and introduces the concept of leadership-as-practice (L-A-P), which shifts the perspective to a collective phenomenon. It draws insights from the collectivist approach of athletic coaching to present a novel hybrid framework called gamified leadership coaching (GLC). Coaching, with its focus on skill enhancement, motivation, strategy, and development, has evolved over time, with athletic and executive coaching contributing distinct patterns and methodologies.
TopIntroduction
In the dynamic fields of leadership and executive coaching, there is a growing need to understand the underlying principles that not only drive, but also define success. In this chapter the traditions and tendencies of athletic coaching and collective leadership will be contrasted. It will examine coaching by looking at how they differ between individualism and collectivism. Next, the intersection of leadership and coaching will be identified. By drawing a comparison between athletic coaching and leadership, connections will be revealed and inform future coaching practices like gamification, guided by the framework of Leadership-as-Practice (L-A-P).
Using Leadership as Practice (L-A-P) theory, the intersection is seen as a collective phenomenon rather than individual attributes and actions. Using the L-A-P lens, the chapter travels through the collectivist approach of athletic coaching compared to Collective Leadership Theory. Then accentuates Leader as Coach (LAC) as a way for leaders to learn this collectivism from eastern sources and athletics. Finally, a combination framework called Gamified Leadership Coaching (GLC) will be shown that ties all these concepts together to illuminate the future of leadership and coaching.
Specifically, the following questions will be explored:
- 1.
What can corporate leadership and coaching learn from athletic coaching methodologies, specifically through a collective lens?
- 2.
How will the current trends toward technology, gamified learning and the democratization of coaching affect leadership and coaching in the future?
Athletic Coaching: Collectivism: A Model of Success
Athletic coaching is a symphony of collectivism where each player is a note contributing to the harmony of success. In athletics, victory is not just a number on the scoreboard but also a reflection of teamwork, strategy, and collective prowess. Collectivism being the ideology of group or community interests over the interests of the individual. It involves an emphasis on collaboration, shared responsibility, collective decision making, communal ownership, collective goals and connectedness (Ospina, 2020). The athletic coach plays the role of a conductor, orchestrating the talents, fostering unity, and channeling energies towards a common goal – winning. Success in this realm is a tangible entity vividly displayed in winning records and championship trophies. The role of an athletic coach involves critical decision-making, continuous nurturing of team talent, and positioning players in ways that enhance team strengths and mitigate weaknesses.
The examples of athletic coaching highlighted in the opening sections here showcase the strength of collectivism that is used more commonly in our western culture athletics than in the corporate landscape. Yes, there are obvious similarities between corporate leadership and athletic coaching. Both make critical decisions to ensure success. Money is on the line, without winning, athletic coaches will have short stays with a program or organization as will executive leaders. But the following argument will show the distinction and tie that athletic coaching has to the more eastern view of collective leadership.
Collective Coaching
In collective leadership, Petra Kuenkel created a compass that houses the competencies of being a collective leader or executing collective leadership. The six competencies include shaping future possibilities, creating engagement, developing innovation, seeing humanity, harvesting intelligence for progress, and seeing “wholeness” or the big picture which is connected to common good (Kuenkel, 2016). The Kuenkel compass highlights many of the athletic coaches' work. See the compass in Figure 1 below.
Figure 1. Kuenkel’s collective compass (Understand the Compass, 2016)
Eminent coaches such as Phil Jackson, Paul Annacone, and Bill Belichick have composed masterpieces of success by championing the philosophy of collective coaching. They have magnified the principles that align with the compass in Figure 1, embodying beliefs that resonate with the collective leadership (Spizman, 2022) (Raelin, 2011). Here is a breakdown of examples in each section of the compass.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Executive Coaching: A person trained to help leaders work on individual attributes to do their job better and become a stronger and better leader of people.
Collectivism: The idea of working for the group instead of an individual.
Athletic Coaching: A person equipped to train athletes and help them be the best individually and play as a team together to win.
Kuenkel Compass: Collective competencies that include shaping future possibilities, creating engagement, developing innovation, seeing humanity, harvesting intelligence and seeing the big picture for common good.
Individualism: Focused on the freedom of individuals to choose their own actions and pathways.
Heroic Leadership: The idea that one individual at the top of a company is the hero of the story of its success.
Leaderful: A concept of L-A-P where all individuals collaborate in leadership activities so that outcomes and actions are full of leadership by all.
Democratization: Employee directed training and focused on things that are of the most interest to the front-line individuals in a company.
Gamification: Using the idea of gaming and elements of game playing in other types of activities or work.
Leader as Coach: The leader of an organization becomes a coach in his/her role as leader in the company transforming others around the organization to be leaders.
Leadership-as-Practice: A leadership practice that sees actions and interactions of the group and what they can accomplish together versus individual traits of people. Takes into account feelings, morality and interactions as all part of the act of leadership.
Community Engaged Leadership as Design: In a complex adaptive system, a process developed by Dr. Priest and Dr. Ekwerike that involves empathize, diagnose, ideate, intervene, test and implement.